Borax

[clearskies]

I know many use borax for bug control in drying rough 
Lumber. I've found you need to heat water
to near boiling. Is 1 pound per gallon about right? What's the best sprayer for application?  Mine stop up after a couple of uses, even with cleaning. Maybe brush on with roller? Do you reapply each year?

[firefighter ontheside]

My garden sprayer clogs up too.  I just use hot tap water.  Shouldn't need to reapply unless it's getting washed off by rain.

[Nebraska]

 I dont use laundry borax. Solubor brand fertilizer additive, mixed at  1 name brand condensed soup can full per gallon of hot tap water, I use a garden sprayer seems to work fine. It was close enough when I did the math to figure out how much to use. Haven't had much clog trouble.
Welcome to the fold, and have a merry Christmas, where are you located?

[Don P]

DOT is the chemical you are looking for, Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate. Timbor is the listed chemical for insect control, Solubor, Beau-Ron, etc are chemically identical and are sold for boron foliar and soil amendment. 1 lb/gallon is the usual 10% concentration, you can go up to 1.5 lbs/gal for a 15% concentration but this will precipitate and crystallize quickly. When you mix it wait for it to dissolve back to a clear solution, that will help with clogging, pouring it through an old T shirt will also help catch any lumps. When you are done rinse and blow out a couple of times with warm water to keep the residue from crystallizing in the sprayer. If it is in board form I prefer to dip or use a roller. A few drops of dish detergent helps to break the surface tension and lets it wet out the wood better.

The old Navy mix was borax and boric acid heated together in water which also forms DOT.

[clearskies]

Nebraska
Thanks for the reply. I'm in SW Arkansas. We had a Merry Christmas and hope you did as well. 

[longtime lurker]

The "right" solution is to use 60% Borax - Disodium Octoborate Tetrahydrate ( or decahydate sometimes, depends on the process) and 40% Boric Acid. Just sayin'

[Don P]

The old Navy recipe for making DOT was;
60% Borax, Sodium tetraborate decahydrate + 40% Boric acid, hydrogen borate, mixed in hot water to form DOT.

I've never bothered with that as Solubor or one of the other identical wettable DOT powders is readily available to me. One note, don't get the time release granules, you want the wettable powder form.

[longtime lurker]

If you add the Boric Acid  you increase the amount of borates in solution... It's about how the different borates attach to water at a molecular level.

There's also other considerations about how they work in situ. Borax diffuses into the wood easier and tends to be a pesticide, Boric Acid forms a scaley layer on the surface and works as an antifungal.  Boric Acid also is somewhat anhydrous ... it's harder to mix in solution... which slows water loss somewhat. That allows the Borax to diffuse deeper, and can also reduce some degrade issues like collapse and surface checking at the cost of a longer drying cycle.

Both are easy enough to get hold of in 40lb bags from fertilizer supply places. My experience is that both together is better than Borax alone.

[Don P]

LL, you've gotten beyond what I know, do you have any reading resources along those lines that you can post?